Tuesday Morning
by Elphena Lewis
Summary: We find James and Lily in the Common Room early one Tuesday Morning.
1. Chapter 1

They were enemies. The fights they engaged in were so extreme that people steered clear of them in fear they'd be hit by a stray flying book. They were notorious for being themselves; James desperately trying to win Lily's affections and she for turning him down more than several times. They were rivals, enemies, any name in the book. They were kissing.

It was a Monday night, or Tuesday morning rather. At about 3 a.m., the Common Room was entirely empty save the couple. The faint glow of the dying embers in the fireplace provided the only light in the dark room. Everything was quiet and everyone was sleeping. There was no chance anyone would walk in on them.

Lily was atop James' lap: one of his hands on her lower back holding her in place and the other woven into her auburn hair. Her hands were placed delicately around his neck. She kissed him hungrily, passionately while he kissed back, matching her emotion. He wouldn't act on the randy thoughts going through his head because he'd be hexed for sure. But if she didn't stop soon, James would end up doing things he'd regret. Well, he wouldn't regret the _things_, more so the _consequences_. All she was doing was simply kissing him and it was driving him nuts. Lily, however, seemed to have no intentions of stopping at all. On the contrary, she deepened the kiss. Suddenly James did something he would've never in a million years thought he'd do.

James stopped kissing Lily.

She gasped softly as he pulled away. She opened her eyes, still situated on his lap and looked him in the eyes. Then he spoke.

"I can't do this."

"Yes, you can. And you're bloody brilliant at it," she countered and attempted going in for another kiss. He jerked his head away causing her to miss.

"No, I mean I can, but I don't want to," he corrected, eyes bugging out when he saw Lily's hurt reaction. "No, no. I want it, believe me, I do! But right now…us…this, isn't right." She said nothing. "You've got a boyfriend, Lily. Admittedly, I spend half my half time wishing it was me and the other half trying to think of way to get it to be me. But that's not the point."

"Then what is the point, James? Because my boyfriend doesn't have to know, we don't have to tell Jeffrey," Lily reasoned, saying whatever it took to get James to kiss her again. Lord knows she wanted it and he had always wanted it as well. So why wasn't he kissing her?

"No, Lily," God it was hard to say no to her. "I can't do that. Jeff's a good guy, he doesn't deserve that. I won't be that guy, Lily. I won't be the guy you cheated on your boyfriend with. That's not who I want to be." He looked in her eyes, searching for some response, for some recognition- maybe a _That's so noble of you._ Yet she was silent again. He searched her desperately for response. No such luck. Still quiet and he felt like he had to fill the empty air between them.

"When you came into the Common Room tonight, hand in hand with your boyfriend, I'll admit, it was like a punch to the gut. Sure you've been going out a while but it still hurts, you know? And I know I don't have any claim over you, you've made that clear enough," he said, remember one particular Saturday afternoon when she had jinxed him to sing Christmas carols to the whole Common Room for hours because he threatened some guy who asked her out. He never made that mistake again. He dropped his head and continued. "And each time I see you, I feel like my heart stops and it kills me. Cause each time I see you laugh, I know I didn't make you laugh. And each time I see you whisper in someone's ear, I know you'll never whisper in mine. And each time I tell myself I have to get over you cause if I don't I'll be miserable forever. But see, then I realize that that isn't possible because I love you. And if you'll never love me back, then I'll learn to live with the misery. But I can't be that guy, Lily. As much as I want you, I do have standards and morals and I can't let myself sink that low. Lily, you have no idea how hard it is to tell you-"

"James," she murmured, so inaudible he had to strain to hear her. But his ears had grown to know how to seek out her quietest voice in the loudest of crowds. Immediately he shut up, wanting her to say something, anything. His head snapped up looking at her. He was actually surprised she was still on his lap. "James," she repeated. She looked up too, and he was surprise by her expression. It was almost…sad. Why would she be sad he loved her? Did she really deem him that repulsive? He had always assumed that she had never truly believed that… "James," she repeated one last time, her brilliant eyes scanning his. Swiftly, she got up form her position on his lap and ran up to her dormitory. He stared after her with the heart of a man broken. Nothing, she had said nothing.

**A/N: You know the deal. **


	2. Chapter 2

James was fully aware that he was missing his Transfiguration class and he'd probably pay for it later, but he honestly didn't care. Instead, he was wandering through the Charms corridor. Actually, he wasn't really wandering; that was too calm a term for what he was doing. Plus, contrary to true wandering, he had a destination in mind. He was waiting for Lily's class to let out. He had Transfiguration when she had Charms and had he been in class, he never would've made it to Lily before she got to her next class. James had to talk to her- it wasn't an option. As his future wife, she took precedent over his class with Minnie.

She'd been avoiding him for a week since their Tuesday morning escapade. James needed to talk to her; he needed to clear things up. He couldn't leave things as bad as they were.

Vaguely, he heard Professor Flitwick wrapping up the lesson and saw the door to the classroom bang open. Students flowed out, chattering away about nothing of particular interest to him

He stopped his frantic pacing as he spotted Lily coming out form class. She was talking to her friend Alice and had therefore not seen him. Alice, on the other hand, noticed him straight away. He shook his head and put a finger to his lips, signaling to her to not say anything to Lily. Chances were that if she did say something, Lily would huff and run off with Alice in the direction opposite James. Alice obeyed James and turned her head ever so slightly, looking at Lily again. James took a deep breath. Lord, the woman made him nervous as hell. He slowly walked over to the pair, attempting to look as casual as possible. He only prayed he looked calm on the outside, for inside was like a mad five year old finger painting.

"Hey Lily," James said, coming up behind her and lightly touching her arm to get her attention. She instinctively pulled her arm back but missed the look on his face when she did so. She turn to look at him as it vanish, replaced by a gentle grin. "Can I talk to you?"

She looked him over, as if calculating her options. She agreed and turned to bid Alice goodbye. "What do you want James?" she asked, rotating to face him again.

"It's just…I thought…could we…"

"James, I don't want to talk about last week. It's in the past. I did some things I think I need to forget and we both need to move on. It meant nothing."

"Oh, right." James looked dejected. Lily softened a bit and tried to explain a bit more.

"It's not that I don't want to ever see you again, it's just that-"

"No, I understand. I mean, I actually thought this would happen. I wasn't going to talk to you. I figured you wanted to ignore everything. And obviously you do, but I'm fine with that. Sirius tried to tell me that you'd talk and reason because that's what you're best at but I told that he didn't see the look in your eyes when you didn't say anything that morning and just left. He kept trying to convince me that it'd be fine and you'd come around. But then I got here at the beginning of class and I got really nervous, I just _knew_. I don't know- I had this feeling that I knew how'd you react and I guess you don't want to-"

"James, do you always ramble on like this?" Lily asked with a chuckle, interrupting his long rant. James looked sheepish and quickly shut his mouth. For reasons unknown to him, he could barely manage his motor skills around Lily. He guessed that the powers that be were just exacting revenge for some horrid thing he'd done in his previous life. Remus suggested it was because he truly loved Lily and didn't want to be a fool in front of her. James socked him one, claiming that he was entirely wrong. He never told Remus that he was just afraid he was right.

"No, I guess not. Sirius tells me to shut up all the time, but I just figure it's him being a git. I never notice that I'm rambling, it just sort of comes to surface-"

"You're doing it again." No response. "Listen, we can't talk about this. As you said, Jeffery's a great guy and I can't hurt him. I don't want to talk because I'm afraid that if I do, I'll finally admit what's been threatening to just burst out and that would kill him. You have to know that I'm not doing this to torture you, I'm merely doing it so I don't hurt Jeffery."

"Admit what?" James' curiosity got the best of him. He needed to know what she would admit that would muck up her relationship with Jeremy. She silenced and looked down at her sneakers. A light went on in his head. "You love me don't you?" Her faced snapped up and their eyes met. He was startled once again to see tears swimming in her eyes. "Hey, it's no problem. I understand, I guess. You're just too good of a person to hurt someone. If anyone could have you, I'd rather it be a guy like Jeffery, I guess. Don't worry, about it." Knowing she loved him would be enough. While Jeffery would technically have her, he wouldn't have all of her because James would own her heart. That brightened James up quite a bit. She didn't look convinced. "Trust me, it's no prob-"

Lily had a way with interrupting James. This time she did so with a soft kiss. It wasn't fiery passionate as the ones in the Common Room were, more so one to check if the chemistry was still there. "Yes, James, it is a problem. Because if everything comes out, I don't think I'll be able to stay away from you." She kissed him again, fully aware that with each passing second she stayed in his proximity, she was losing her hold on staying away from him. He dropped his bag and his hands found their way to her neck, gently kissing her back.

He knew that it was entirely way too cliché to say, but kissing Lily felt like a thousand fireworks going off in his head. He felt weightless and happy yet somehow weighed down with so much excitement. The fireworks were getting more intense every minute he kissed her. It was strange really; they were getting so powerful that it almost hurt him. James' brow furrowed as he continued kissing her until he realized that it wasn't form kissing her, and the pain he felt wasn't cliché, it was real. Next thing he knew, he was doubled up on the ground in pain. Lily dropped to his side, concerned.

"James, what's going on?"

**A/N: so I understand that this is a second chapter and I understand that it may have ended in a sort of cliffhanger as well, but that doesn't mean this will be one intense story. The next chapter should resolve everything, but only because I really dislike writing chapters unless something good comes out. Otherwise, things are too forced. So let me know what you think please!**


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